Tag Archives: Chocolate

Update: I had some cake the morning after (it had been in the fridge over night) and it’s even better half a day later and cold. The cake is still dense and moist (but not heavy) however the cinammon and chili have enhanced – not overpowering but nicely warming against cold cake. YUM!! 🙂

I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth and while I do adore the taste of chocolate, I’m no fiend and I rarely crave it. Although, chocolate and peanut butter OR chocolate and chili are good ways to get on my good side! :-p

However, lately I have felt the urge to bake, but the question was always WHAT? because I really don’t like sugar all that much. With the coming of Halloween I decided whatever I baked had to be a little twisted. So I came up with the following cake, and while baking is precise, as always, this recipe is robust enough for tweaking. Despite what I write below… I definitely “tweaked.” Mainly because I chose to halve (very roughly – as I had to deal with trying to convert from weight measurements to cups) an existing recipe and relied a lot on “eye-balling” to guess as to whether it was the right proportions. I also added the chili and cinnamon elements at will. Ah well… it turned out pretty well and that’s what counts!

For the cake (to make a small cake)

1.25 cups plain flour

3/4 cup caster sugar (can add more if you prefer it sweeter)

2.75 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

0.5 cup milk

Glug of vegetable oil (maybe 2-3 tablespoons… I just did a quick pour)

1 vanilla pod

0.5 cup boiling water

1 egg

paprika, chili powder, cinnamon powder

How to do it…

Basically this is is the easiest cake recipe ever. Mix all the ingredients listed together in one bowl up until the vanilla pod. Make sure the batter is starting to form (it will still be quite dry / doughy) at this stage. Then pour in the boiled water. Now your mixture is quite liquidy. That’s fine – it’s what makes this cake so moist. Taste. If you want add more sugar or cocoa. Then add in most of the seeds from the vanilla pod (reserve some for your icing) and the cinnamon, paprika and chili powder (more cinnamon than chili – but it should be to your taste). Taste and adjust if need be. Then crack in the egg. Stir. Pour the mixture into a greased pan and bake for about 20 mins in a medium oven. Once the top is no longer goopy and you put a knife or toothpick in cleanly through the cake it’s done. Mine cooked in twenty minutes. Leave aside to cool and focus on the icing now.

For the icing

100 grams softened unsalted butter

chili chocolate

icing sugar

cinnamon

paprika

vanilla

How to do it…

Cream (mix) the softened butter with some cinnamon powder and a little paprika + chili. Add the remaining vanilla seeds. Slowly sift in icing sugar until you get your desired texture and taste. Then add in 2.5 tablespoons of melted chili chocolate. Add a bit more icing sugar if you need it for texture.

Once the cake is cooled, ice it! I also topped with hazelnuts… but the sky is the limit for cake decorating. (sadly that is not my forte)

Day 2 of my muffin mania leads me to a more traditional style of muffin… yummy desert. Also super simple to make, also very flexible, and we’re going to pretend also very healthy. Well, I used some wholemeal that must count right? And fruit! So we’re going to pretend this is healthy goodness anyways. It was pretty light when eating.

For the recipe you will need:

a bowl

whisk

muffin tray (lightly greased with healthy spray)

Ingredients

1 lemon

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup low fat milk

1/3 cup canola oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

a little pinch of cinnamon

1 .5 cups regular flour

1/2 cup wholemeal flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1.5 cups frozen raspberries (thawed)

chocolate chips (as many as you want)

So pretty simple again: in a large bowl dump in the sugar, a pinch of cinnamon and the vanilla. Then add in some finely grated lemon peel and the juice of half a lemon. Mash it all around. After that add in the following wet ingredients: egg, milk, and oil. Whisk. Then slowly add in all the flour. Keep whisking so no lumps. Once the flour is combined, add in the baking powder and soda, plus a pinch of salt.

The mixture should be wet but just stick slightly as well, so that the folds when you stir dissipate slowly. Now add in your totally thawed raspberries. They will disintegrate quickly and turn the mixture pinkish. After that add in your chocolate chips and start spooning into the muffin tin. Bake until tops are brown (roughly 20 mins).

This is the easiest cheesecake recipe ever and super quick too. To make it individual just grab some ramekins and parcel accordingly or make one big cake.

The base

To make the base crumble up digestive biscuits into the bottom of the ramekin and mix in a little honey (the honey substitutes for butter). Press the cookie crumbs all together until you have a firm base that sticks together thanks to the honey. Sprinkle a little sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon onto the the top.

The cheesecake part

Whip up some whipping cream and then grate in some milk chocolate and white chocolate. Feel free to leave a few small chunks as well as a pleasant surprise. Add a little more cinnamon and vanilla, and then mix in enough icing sugar to sweeten to your taste. Finally stir in some light cream cheese (again to your taste). Spoon into the ramekin on top of the biscuit base and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or more until set.

So. I’m suuuper envious of everyone back home and all the beautiful snow. I’m not a fan of the sun at the best of times but at Xmas time its even worse. It just doesn’t feel like Christmas! Christmas is supposed to be cold and a little grey. There should be Xmas trees and a fire going and in between the glasses of wine and cocktails (margaritas and mojitos) there is supposed to be warm apple cider and hot chocolate. Its 30 degrees outside… its too warm for apple cider and hot chocolate!! 😦

Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to sweat as I drink my hot chocolate. hee!

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Peanut butter and chocolate… its the most amazing combination, and adding a dollop of peanut butter to this hot chocolate adds an extra smooth, sweet, creamy dimension.

In bain marie melt some milk and dark chocolate together with a splash of milk. Stir continuously. Add in a dollop of peanut butter and keep stirring until everything is smooth and mixed. Then add in more milk and whip. At this point can add the mixture on a low heat to a pot and then whip so that the hot chocolate becomes a little frothy.